How anti-blackness and misogyny—misogynoir—in today's media landscape works to foreclose on the possibility of innocence for Black women and girls.

To be considered innocent is to be viewed as vulnerable to harm and worthy of protection from harm. An innocent person’s pain is recognized, acknowledged, and addressed. Mediated Misogynoir: Erasing Black Women’s and Girls’ Innocence in the Public Imagination interrogates contemporary media culture to illuminate the ways the intersections of anti-blackness and misogyny, i.e., misogynoir, converge to obscure public perceptions of Black women and girls as people with any claim to innocence. When pained images of Black female bodies appear on media devices, the socio-political responses are telling, not only in their lack of urgency, but also in their inability to be read empathetically. By examining viral videos, memes, and recent film and television, Kalima Young makes a striking case for the need to create a new Black feminist media studies framework broad enough to hold the complexity and agency of Black women and girls in a digital age invested in framing them as inherently adulterated and impure.

Please note: due to the cover price set by the publisher, we won't have copies of the book available at the event, but you can preorder a copy for pickup here: https://redemmas.org/titles/37557-mediated-misogynoir-erasing-black-women-s-and-girls-innocence-in-the-public-imagination

Dr. Kalima Young is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronic Media and Film at Towson University. She received her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Maryland College Park. Her research explores the impact of race and gender-based trauma on Black identity, media, and cultural production. A Baltimore native, videographer, and activist, Dr. Young is also a member of Rooted, a Black LGBTQ healing collective in Baltimore, MD.

Dr. LaShay Harvey is the Interim Associate Dean for Student Learning and Research Creation for Graduate Studies at MICA.